The Vindicators
The Vindicators '''was a role-play that took place from July-December 2019. It was a superhero role-play, with its plot centring around the Riddler's crime syndicate and their attempts to establish a new world order. In order to combat this threat, Tony Stark (a.k.a. Iron Man) assembles a league of superheroes to eliminate the threats against world peace. The infamous 'Batman' was included in this group of heroes, and the role-play was a continuation of the events of The Dark Knight. The superheroes featured in this role-play Iron Man, Batman, Deadpool, Spider-Man, Hawkeye and Howard the Duck. Meanwhile, the antagonists included the likes of The Riddler, Lex Luthor and the Mandarin. Storyline ''Prologue'' Edward "Ed" Nygma, also known as the Riddler, was a former forensic scientist working for the Gotham City Police Department with a penchant for speaking in riddles. Throughout all of 2018 and 2019, he spent hours upon hours crafting a plan in which he could successfully establish a new world order. This included helping the Batman destroy any rivals of his crime syndicate, as seen in The Dark Knight. In July 2019, the plan started to come to fruition. He enlisted the help of megalomaniacal multi-billionaire businessman Lex Luthor and extremely powerful terrorist leader Mandarin in order to carry out his plan, and decided that the three of them were to divide and conquer the Earth. Nygma laid out his ideas to both men, putting across a proposal whereby the Mandarin would take the East, whilst Luthor would take the West. In the meantime, Nygma would oversee the whole operation and provide them with technology and weapons when needed. The meeting of the three men was also attended by the Riddler's secretary, Pepper Potts; a woman with a secret of her own. It is later revealed that Potts was serving as a spy, working to try and take down the Riddler. The person she was working for was her own boyfriend, Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist and CEO of Stark Industries. Stark had recently assumed the mantle of a superhero, taking on the role of the 'Iron Man' to help people in need and take down evildoers. When Potts made Stark aware of the Riddler's plans, he realised that he would struggle to defeat him on his own, and would instead have to form a superhero league to take the crime syndicate down. The first superhero that Stark approached was the infamous 'Batman', who had been responsible for taking down criminals such as the Joker. He and Potts met with Batman in an attempt to try and convince him of the conspiracy, but Batman remained unconvinced and skeptical. Their meeting comes to an abrupt ending however when a rifle bullet is shot at Potts, causing her to become severely injured. Whilst Stark seeks medical attention, Batman chased the hit man through the rooftops, eventually stopping him. The hitman confesses working for the Riddler, causing Batman to believe in the conspiracy. Several days later, Batman sought out Stark to tell him that he will join the league. In addition to that, Spider-Man and Deadpool, a duo of crime-fighting superheroes, also joined the group. Spider-Man was a a high school student who had spider-like abilities, whilst Deadpool was a superhuman with a regenerative healing factor and a power of breaking the fourth-wall. All of the heroes at this point in time were based in Groupy McGroupface however, and with the Middle East facing a severe threat in the form of the Mandarin, Stark also needed representatives in this region. As a consequence, he travelled to the Middle Eastern group chat of Qumar, and met with Clint Barton (a.k.a. Hawkeye), a skilled marksman, and Howard the Duck, an extraterrestrial anthropomorphic duck. The pair were in Qumar seeking to help refugees and fight terrorism in the area. When asked as to whether they would help take down the Mandarin and act on behalf of the League in the Middle East, they agreed. As a result, the Vindicators was formed, and the two sides began to battle the two threats facing the globe simultaneously. ''Iron Man, Batman, Deadpool and Spider-Man Vs. Lex Luthor'' Not long after their earlier encounter, Lex Luthor once again met with Edward Nygma in secret to discuss their next plan of action. During this meeting, Nygma unveiled a new programme which would allow Luthor to hack into the Pentagon's computer system. Using his newly-given power almost immediately, Luthor directed one of the Pentagon's bombs to strike the Statue of Liberty, a colossal neoclassical sculpture in New York City, and killed dozens of civilians in the process. Shortly after conducting the attack, Luthor intercepted television networks to deliver a public address. In this address, he accepted responsibility and warned that this could be first strike of many. He demanded to speak with President Bartlet, and promised that, should anything happen to him, then bombs across the group chat will self-detonate at the push of a button orchestrated by one of his accomplices. He also claimed that he was in his residing in the LexCorp Tower, and that any perceived moment towards the building would also lead to the bombs being set off. After achieving communication with the President, Luthor demands Bartlet act as as his puppet, and should he refuse to do so then further attacks will come to the people of Groupy McGroupface. In a desperate attempt to pacify Luthor, Bartlet simply agreed to his instant demands. Soon after speaking with Luthor, Bartlet met with senior aides in order to ask for their guidance and debate a number of different solutions. White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry thought up the idea of asking the Iron Man to help, and suggests reaching out to him. Whilst the Secretary of Defence Percy Fitzwallace initially objects to this idea, Bartlet became desperate; with no other clear options, he agreed that the Iron Man must be summoned. The following day, Leo met with Stark, who informed him of the team that had been assembled. Stark gives Leo his word that Luthor will be defeated, and the two men part ways. The four heroes meet up and discuss their plans to eradicate this unwanted threat. Stark reveals to them that he has an old friend that works at LexCorp, and that they should expect a phone call from said friend within the near future. The friend eventually calls them, when he informs them that Luthor has not been seen for weeks, and no one had heard from him long before the attack was executed. They remember that Nygma had ties to both Lord Squidy, leader of Penguin Club and Putin, leader of RussChat, meaning that it was possible that Luthor has crossed the border before the attack was even carried out. They then decide to travel to Penguin Club, and vow to hunt Luthor down. After travelling to Penguin Club, they tasked Deadpool with breaking into Lord Squidy's Presidential Palace. Deadpool is able to scale the wall and enter quietly through a window, giving him entry to the Palace. After walking through a number of corridors, he eventually stumbled upon a meeting between Luthor and Lord Squidy and quietly observed them talking. Deadpool is then shot by the assassin that targeted Potts a week earlier, but as a result of his regenerative healing factor, it has no impact on him. The two engage in combat, and it ultimately ends with Deadpool impaling the assassin. When he goes to find Luthor and Lord Squidy again however, he discovers that they have vanished. Outside of the Presidential Palace, the three remaining heroes spot a car speedily escaping from the Palace. The three heroes then begin chasing after the car. Spider-Man is able to web the front of the car, which causes it to crash and come to a sudden halt. They tell Luthor to get out the car, but to their shock and horror, Luthor is nowhere to be found. Instead, it is only Lord Squidy, who tells them that Luthor left in a separate car. They then apprehend Lord Squidy and take him to an abandoned warehouse in order to question him. After manipulating him to tell them Luthor's whereabouts, Lord Squidy informs them that they can find Luthor at Camp Nigel. He goes on to tell them that there is a tunnel, formerly a go-kart track, from the Palace which will allow them an undetected passage to the location. The heroes returned to the Palace, meet with Deadpool, and then made their way to Camp Nigel. The heroes searched throughout the camp in the hopes of finding Luthor, but unfortunately their quest proved unsuccessful. After doing so, they went into the woods to see if they could find any trace of him. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a strong blast was fired at them, causing Iron Man to go flying. The heroes turn around where, to their shock and horror, they see Lex Luthor in a sophisticated battle-suit. The three of them try to fight him, but the strength and durability of Luthor's suit makes him unbeatable and he overpowers them all. Assuming that Iron Man has already died, Luthor leaves him, but rounds up Batman, Spider-Man and Deadpool before taking them away. A few hours later, Iron Man awakened, drenched in blood. He wearily stumbled to his feet, before running away into the distance. ''Hawkeye and Howard the Duck Vs. The Mandarin'' Shortly after their previous encounter, Edward Nygma, the Riddler, once again met with the Mandarin in the Middle Eastern group chat of Qumar, this time to put their plan in action. Nygma told him of a toxic airborne disease being manufactured in a Qumar factory, and said that this could be released into the air upon his approval. The Mandarin agreed to the idea, and as a consequence the deed was done. The Mandarin then hijacked the airwaves in order to deliver a message to the Qumar people. He informed them of the small portion of the disease that had been released, but warned that there would be more to come unless all the governments of the Middle East transferred their powers to his terrorist organisation of the 'Ten Rings'. He gave them a strict deadline to do so, and promised that multiple lives would be lost if his demands were not met. Hawkeye and Howard the Duck meanwhile began discussing ways in which they could defeat the Mandarin. Hawkeye deduced that, to have created a disease such as this, the Mandarin must have used a well-equipped factory based somewhere within the group chat. Howard then suggested using alien technology from DuckWorld to track down the poison. Howard himself was immune to the disease as a result of not being human, and therefore it was decided that he must track down the lair alone whilst Hawkeye remains quarantined. Howard eventually located the factory and broke in, where he was instantly confronted by the Mandarin's guards. Whilst attempting to use quack-fu against them, his effort to fight them did not go quite as planned, and he was instantly overpowered. He was then taken before the Mandarin, who demanded answers as to why Howard was poking around the factory. Howard attempted to bluff an answer and lie, but the Mandarin remained unconvinced. As a result, The Mandarin made the order to have Howard roasted and made into 'fried duck'. Before leaving Howard to his fate however, he taunted him with his failure, and told him that the cure to the disease would have been the blood of a Cinchona Plantation tree-frog; the rarest frog known to mankind. The Mandarin then makes his exit, and Howard was left to roast by the fire place. Luckily for him, he was able to burn the ropes holding his hands together, and consequently made his escape. After doing so, Howard fled back to the refugee camp and told Hawkeye all that had happened. The pair discover that the Cinchona Plantation Tree Frog can be found in the rain forests of the Bashallde group chat. Using a private jet provided to them by Stark Industries, they make their way out to the rain forest. The pair arrived in at the rain forest, where after an extensive search, they eventually stumbled upon two of the frogs. They then celebrated their victory, delighting in the fact that they had at last beaten the Mandarin. Upon walking back to their private jet however, they were greeted by The Mandarin and four guards. The Mandarin ridicules them for thinking that they could have beaten the 'chess master' himself, and then orders his guards to annihilate them. They then engage in combat, where Hawkeye is able to take out all four guards with his bow and arrow. In the meantime though, the Mandarin launches at Hawkeye with a surprise attack and overpowers him. He pulls out his blade, and prepares to use it against Hawkeye's throat. At the very last minute however, Howard is able to muster up the strength and courage to successfully perform 'quack-fu', and disarms The Mandarin, knocking him unconscious. They tie him up, and then take him back on the plane. A number of days later, the Mandarin was incarcerated and the first drops of the antidote proved successful, causing them to be replicated in order to treat all of those that had suffered from the disease. Whilst Howard the Duck initially planned to go back to Duck World after these events, he was convinced by Hawkeye to stick around in Qumar and continue bringing peace to the Middle East. Howard agreed, and the pair remained together. ''Superman's Arrival'' During a news report on the Mandarin's arrest, Lex Luthor intercepted the connection and delivered another public address. He criticised President Bartlet for sending the heroes to fight his battles and stated that, in retaliation, he announced that he would be launching a series of bombs in the state of Cargo Shipping. In the meantime, following the large blow dealt upon Iron Man, he continued to traipse through the woods, slowly becoming weaker and weaker as he went on. Suddenly, no longer feeling any sort of strength, he collapsed to the floor. After doing so, he saw a bright light and prepared for his fate. Despite thinking that he was being greeted by death however, this was not to be the case. The bright light was discovered to be some sort of super-human flying down onto the ground, having sought Tony out for many hours. Upon finding Tony, the 'Superman' picked him up, and once again flew off into the horizon. A number of hours later, Stark awoke at the Kent Farm, being medically treated by a woman whom he had never met before, nor had no knowledge of. Without saying who she was, she simply told Stark that he was in good hands and that her "son would be home shortly". Directly after this conversation, her son arrived, and to Stark's surprise the woman's son was in fact Superman. The hero, named Clark Kent, introduced himself and explained his powers. The Superman was an all-powerful, indestructible and invincible demigod, alien, and superhero of the House of El, one of the extremely few survivors of the destruction of Krypton, and an investigative reporter of the Daily Planet. His powers included superhuman strength, speed, stamina, breath, vision, hearing and smell, invulnerability and flight. When asked by Stark as to why he had not previously intervened in previous catastrophic events, Clark responded by saying that he was scared of his own strength and had feared that his powers could do more harm than good. He had now however decided that the threat at this point in time was too great to be ignored, and as a result he had now chosen to give Stark a helping hand. Stark then told Clark all of the previous events, informing him of the Riddler's actions. They then began to hatch a plan, whereby Stark recorded an online video message directly calling out Nygma for his actions. Knowing of Nygma's intellectual arrogance, he then challenged him to a battle of wits as well as physical contests. Stark implored Nygma to reach out, after which they could then decide a time and place to meet with no external forces present. A number of hours later, Stark and Kent received a video message response from Nygma, accepting the challenge. He told them that, should they able to best him both physically and mentally, then they would win and he would concede. ''The Challenge'' A few days later, Stark and Clark met with Nygma and Luthor in the To'hajiilee Desert in Mexichat. Luthor was dressed in his battle-suit, with Stark in his Iron-Man armour. In the meantime, Clark was dressed in a suit, and neither Nygma nor Luthor were aware of who he was or what his powers were. Upon meeting, they agreed on the following terms and conditions: * If Stark and Clark won, then both Nygma and Luthor would have to surrender themselves to the authorities. They would also have to dismantle any bombs, and release the heroes that were being kept as hostages. * If Nygma and Luthor won, then Stark would have to sign over all machinery from Stark Industries and actively help him in his quest to establish a new world order. Nygma warned them that, should anything happen to him during the course of the challenges, then a dead man's switch would be activated. They then agree that the physical challenge should take place first, and Nygma demands that Luthor, in was battle-suit, should fight Kent. Nygma and Luthor are both under the belief that this fight is easily winnable, due to the fact that they still remain clueless over Kent's powers. They then engage in the fight, whereby Luthor's punches have little to no effect on Kent. In response, Kent completely pummelled Luthor, knocking him well and truly unconscious. Accepting the defeat, Nygma then set the mental challenges. He gave Stark three riddles, and called on him to find the answers. Whilst Stark was successful in getting the first answer correct, he was not as successful with the second. As a consequence of this, Nygma detonated one of his planted bombs, blowing up an orphanage full of elderly disabled pregnant children. Whilst Stark and Clark had the immediate reaction of wanting to attack Nygma, they ultimately decided against doing so in fear of the dead man's switch. Nygma then went on to give him the third riddle, to which Stark was able give the correct answer to. After celebrating victory, Stark ordered Nygma to hand himself in. Nygma consequently warned Stark that it would be impossible for him to ever concede defeat, and proceeds to shoot Stark in the head. He then quickly got into his car and disappeared off into the horizon. A mournful Kent looks over the dead body of Stark for a number of seconds, before racing off at full speed to catch the Riddler. Kent yanked Nygma from his car, and attempted to make him feel some sort of remorse or guilt for his actions. Nygma expressed no remorse for killing Stark however, and instead expressed fury at his loss. After doing so, he proceeded to grab his gun and shoot himself. This led to the dead man's switch being triggered, although Kent was thankfully able to dismantle this. After doing so, Kent screamed out in anger, questioning to himself as to whether justice really had been achieved. ''Epilogue''''' A new report released the following day revealed to the public that Stark and Nygma had both died following an altercation, as well as disclosing that the three heroes had been freed from captivity and that Lex Luthor had since been incarcerated. One month later, the funeral of Tony Stark was held, which was attended by his girlfriend Pepper, President Jed Bartlet, White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry and the entirety of the Vindicators. Clark Kent gave the eulogy, professing his admiration for Stark and his legacy. He expressed regret that he had known him for so little time, but that he had still nevertheless left a lasting impact on his life. After delivering the eulogy, Kent greeted the heroes, and officially introduced himself as the 'Superman' before performing a variety of his powers in order to prove himself. He invited all of them to join him in his quest to pursue the Vindicator initiative in Stark's honour, to which they all agreed. The solid alliance of Batman, Superman, Deadpool, Spider-Man, Hawkeye and Howard the Duck was then at that moment created, with the group vowing to stop something like this from every happening again. In a post-credits scene, Luthor was arrested and Batman confronted him in prison, warning Luthor that he would always be watching him. Luthor then proceeded to gloat that Iron Man's death had made the world vulnerable to powerful threats, and no-one would be safe going forward.